Chapter 145
Daphne Akion.
A child who was always accompanied by titles such as the Grand Duke family’s troublemaker, the Grand Duke family’s disgrace, scoundrel, playboy, complete lunatic…
However, the days when she was called by such insulting nicknames had now passed.
As time went by, Daphne had grown into a proper thirteen-year-old young lady and had changed considerably.
Her fluffy golden hair, once as soft as a chick’s down, now flowed beautifully with a rich, glossy texture.
Her skin was still pale and snow-white, but judging by the subtle muscles visible on her forearms beneath her rolled-up sleeves, she seemed much healthier than before.
The Daphne who had been an unbearably adorable child but always glared fiercely because of her illness, giving her an unchildlike, vicious appearance, was gone.
Now, with her gentler impression, she was simply a cute girl who looked a little frail.
So now, no one could call a Daphne like this a troublemaker or anything like tha—
“Agh! Aaaagh! This is so damn annoying, seriously! Are you out of your damn mind? Are you even sane?!”
…Couldn’t.
“Just die! Dieee!”
…Or maybe they still could.
“Beating you makes me feel a little better. Hey. Get up. I want to hit you one more time.”
Perhaps it was better to keep calling her the Grand Duke family’s troublemaker after all.
In any case, unfortunately, Daphne had not changed.
A slightly older Daphne was simply a slightly older Daphne.
The temperament and rough way of speaking she had inside were not something that would change just because time had passed.
So,
“Ah! Seriously, why are you always picking on me?! What did I even do wrong?! All I did was steal and drink a potion made by some human girl! How does that deserve this much of a beating?!”
Artson, who was currently being beaten by Daphne, shouted tearfully.
Glaring at Daphne with fierce eyes, he apparently felt it was unfair to get beaten like this every single day…
“And! Why do you always hit only me?! Him too! That elf did the exact same thing as I did! If you’re going to hit someone, hit both of us!”
…No.
Apparently, what he found unfair was being the only one getting beaten.
“Hey! Elf! What are you doing?! Get over here and kneel with your head down too!”
At that, elf Teiti, who had been standing behind Daphne with his hands clasped behind his back, blinked in surprise.
“But I apologized to Lady Vipera. In fact, I even gave her a tearful apology right in front of everyone. That’s why Lady Daphne forgave me. Why don’t you apologize too, Lord Artson? Then you won’t get beaten.”
“Aaargh…! No!”
“Then you’ll just have to get beaten more.”
“Agh!”
After being struck across the waist by Daphne’s wooden sword, Artson rolled across the ground.
Watching the scene, Joshua, Cilia, and Bunny exchanged glances.
Then they smiled knowingly at one another.
“I think we’d better go train.”
“That’d be best. We’ve seen enough already. Good grief.”
“How are those two always exactly the same? That’s a talent in itself.”
Shaking their heads, they left the area.
Thus, only Daphne holding a wooden sword, Artson sprawled across the ground, and Teiti quietly giggling remained in the training yard.
“Waaah! You always beat only me! It’s so unfair!”
Artson wailed loudly.
He looked so pitiful and insignificant that no one would ever believe he was the Blue Dragon created from a fragment of a god.
However, Daphne’s expression remained unchanged as she looked down at him.
“That Teiti fellow apologized to Vipera. Since Vipera forgave him afterward, I no longer beat him. But you? Not only did you refuse to apologize, you even insulted Vipera.”
—”What’s the big deal about stealing a potion? Besides, shouldn’t you be grateful that someone as great as me drank it?”
—”Cheap little potions like this are everywhere in my lair. This worthless thing isn’t even worthy of being compared.”
Recalling his conversation with Vipera, Artson flinched.
“And yet you still think it’s unfair that I’m beating you. If it were me, I’d get hit once, repent, get hit once, repent, and repeat the process. You’re truly shameless.”
“No!”
At Daphne’s scolding, Artson raised his voice once more.
“Why should I apologize to a human?! Wasn’t I telling the truth? A great being like me personally ate something made by a human!”
“Wow. It’s like I’m looking at my old self.”
Teiti said with a thumbs-up.
“But I changed in less than a year, while this person hasn’t shown even the slightest sign of changing after being disciplined for eight whole years.”
He shook his head.
“See, Lady Daphne? Beings like me, who listen well, quickly change the way they think, and even grow on their own, are actually quite rare. Maybe it’s about time you gave up on that blue-headed guy.”
“Shut up, you crazy elf bastard… You really… Haa…”
“What? Going to hit me? Hehe, Lady Daphne. The blue-headed guy is threatening me.”
“Aaaagh!”
Grabbing the back of his neck, Artson collapsed backward.
It seemed Teiti’s psychological attacks hurt him more than Daphne’s physical ones.
Even while watching that, Teiti merely shrugged his shoulders even more smugly.
“His mental fortitude is really weak.”
“You should stop provoking him so much as well. He may be staying quiet now, but there’s no telling when he’ll completely snap.”
“I thought the same thing at first too… But after seeing him stay quiet for eight years, isn’t he probably just fine? He doesn’t seem to have any intention of rebelling anymore.”
Actually, that wasn’t wrong.
Even though Artson had been placed under a magical restriction, Daphne had expected someone like him to put up quite a bit of resistance.
Surprisingly, however, he had simply accepted his situation.
‘Is it because he’s stupid…?’
After muttering to herself, Daphne gave up thinking about it and picked up a real sword instead of the wooden one.
“Ah, are you heading out again today?”
For a long time now, Daphne had been devoting herself to exploring lunch boxes…
No, to eliminating black mages.
Whenever she had free time, she searched for wherever they were, absorbed their mana…
No, defeated them and rescued people.
Knowing this, Teiti grumbled as he continued.
“If that’s the case, you should just publicly promote yourself already. The Grand Duke family’s troublemaker… no, the Grand Duke family’s Lady, who’s personally wiping out the Wraith.”
Rolling her large eyes once, Daphne answered indifferently.
“Too troublesome. Didn’t those Guardian fellows already drag me around and give me several days of trouble before? I prefer working alone.”
Teiti smiled as his eyes curved.
“Not because you’re worried that the others would get hurt if they came with you?”
“……”
Daphne turned her head and stared silently at Teiti.
Behind him came the loud voices of the other knights and the academy students she had taken in as they trained.
Daphne chuckled softly before replying.
“You’ve become much quicker at reading people.”
“Ah. Hehe. Thank you.”
“But it seems you still haven’t learned when to keep your mouth shut.”
“……”
Teiti slowly took a step backward.
“P-Put your fist down. Seriously, why do you always try to solve everything with violence?!”
“If you ever think there is something that cannot be solved by strength, then it simply means you lack enough strength.”
“Ah, why are you saying something like that while trying to punch me?! Stop!”
“That was informal speech.”
“Agh! This elf is going to die!”
Just as Daphne and Teiti were bickering as usual—
Whoooosh—!
A fierce wind arose, and a gigantic sphere of light appeared in midair.
Pure white light without a single speck of impurity.
Daphne and Teiti knew very well who the owner of that light was.
“Lady Daphne!”
“Hm?”
The one who emerged from the light was none other than Shiosen.
His face was flushed with excitement, and his reddened cheeks and stiff hands showed that he had just come from somewhere extremely cold.
“I found it!”
But he seemed to have completely forgotten about the cold.
With a bright smile, he ran toward Daphne.
“I found the Wraith’s headquarters!”
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